Radical generosity - do you really need two coats?

A simple act of radical generosity has changed the way I think about all the things that I have, but especially my coats.

We’re told in scripture that if we have two coats, we should give one away. I thought it was Jesus who said it, but it turns out it wasn’t. It was John the Baptist. And for context he said it to a gathered crowd who he’d just called a brood of vipers. He’d also told them to repent and stop being selfish.

You might expect those people wouldn’t then be asking John the Baptist for some life advice, but ask they did. And what’s interesting is his response. It wasn’t ‘go and make a sacrifice’ or ‘find a priest and confess your sins’. Rather he told them to demonstrate their repentance (i.e. a completely changed way of thinking) by being more generous in how they handled their money and possessions (Luke 3: 7-14). 

Essentially, he said don’t gather too much, and if you find yourself with too much and see someone with none, share what you have with them. He even got down to practical details by saying if you’ve got two coats and somebody doesn’t have one, give them one. Which begs the question in my mind - do you really need two coats?

A practical demonstration of spontaneous generosity

I know all this detail because my wife quoted the passage to me when she was relaying what had happened to her a couple of mornings prior. That particular morning she’d been getting things ready to take the kids to school when she noticed a lady across the street take off her cardigan and drape it over her child in a pushchair.

Nothing too unusual in that you might think. But in doing so it left her in just a t-shirt and she did it because the heavens had just opened to release one of those bursts of rain that drenches everything instantly. Living in the Lake District, we have many variations of rain because it rains most days, and one of the essential items of clothing you need to survive in our town is a waterproof jacket.

So, in one sense it wasn’t surprising to hear that on witnessing this event Laura dashed back into the house and grabbed her waterproof coat. But it did surprise me to discover that she wasn’t grabbing it for herself, but rather for the lady across the road standing in the rain in just a t-shirt.

‘You can’t give me your coat’ the lady said.

‘I can’ said Laura ‘because I’ve got two and I don't really need two coats!’

‘At least tell me where you live so I can get it back to you’ the woman replied.

But by this point Laura was already running back across the road and getting into her car.

The reason I was hearing this story now wasn’t because Laura was asking me to buy her a replacement coat. It was because she had just seen the same lady again, walking up the street, pushing the pushchair, and still wearing the same coat that Laura had given her.

It dawned on us that it wasn’t that she’d left her coat at home that morning and got caught in the rain. It was more likely that she didn’t have a coat of her own to begin with. That was until God saw her getting drenched and nudged Laura to give her one of hers.

Changing my mind about what it means to be generous

As noted above, repentance is a word that is used in the Bible to talk about a changed way of thinking. And on that day my thinking on generosity was radically changed. My natural inclination and thought process being in a situation like Laura’s would normally have run like this:

Why has that woman left the house without her coat? She’s getting really wet.

Maybe she hasn’t got one.

That’s ridiculous, why wouldn’t she have a coat? She lives in Kendal for goodness sake. It’s an essential item of clothing in this town.

Doesn’t the Bible say something about giving away clothing?

Yeah, I’m pretty sure Jesus said something about that.

What did he say? If somebody asks for your coat, give it to them?

Yeah, something like that. But that lady hasn’t asked for my coat. And if I go over and offer her one of mine she’ll think I’m weird. She won’t want a man’s coat anyway.

What about Laura’s coat?

Are you kidding? She’d kill me.

By this point the woman would have left!

Reflecting on the difference between mine and Laura’s reaction was saying something very clearly to me. God prompts people like Laura to step in and provide solutions to problems and often that means the giving of something. People who are willing to change their minds on something really quickly and who hold their earthly possession lightly are the sort of people God uses to be his agents of generosity.

I want to be used as an agent of God's generosity but I needed to change my thinking from the above to something more like Laura's radical generosity response.

Three ways I’m trying to show radical generosity

Firstly, I've recognised that I need to act more quickly to the prompting of God. I run the risk of looking a bit stupid but surely that’s better than arguing myself out of a situation where I could be kind, generous and reflecting the love of God to the world around me. When I find myself in a similar position my immediate response now is to say a quick prayer and then step into action with whatever I think God is asking me to do.

The second thing is that I now feel like I’m on red alert to any potential giving situation. I’m leaving the house scanning the horizon for any potential recipients of my coat that’s for sure. But I’m also leaving space in my thoughts and observations, looking for ways in which I can be generous. I’m sure they are hundreds of moments every day that I miss because I’m simply not looking.

The third, and most important thing, is that I’ve realised that my thinking about generosity needed to change. I’d boxed it all into a neat pattern and structure. I was doing the right things for sure, but my heart wasn’t quite right. I needed a challenging moment to change my thoughts about God, his own lavish and spontaneous generosity, and how I can be involved in his Kingdom work. Repentance (orienting our minds after God’s ways) is a crucial part of the Christian life and something that applies to everything including our generosity.

More on money and the Bible

We have an array of blogs that focus on biblical stewardship and charitable giving, as well as a range of resources to help you think more clearly about money.